Mount Vernon College
Chapter Inactivated May 4, 2001
| Chapter News - 2001: Litigation Settlement
|
| Chapter News - 2000: Court Date Set |
| Chapter News - 1999: Aftermath of Hostile Takeover |
| Chapter News - 1998: Broken Promises |
| Donations to Legal Fund |
| Treasurer | Patricia E. Ortman | 202-244-6354 | peo@tidalwave.net |
| Rosemary Bolig | rbolig@compuserve.com | ||
| Sharon Fechter | fechter@erols.com |
Chapter News - 2001 Joint Press Release: May 4, 2001
GW, MVC and Former MVC Faculty Settle Litigation
Mount Vernon College, a former women's college in Washington, DC, which ceased to operate as an independent educational institution as of June 30, 1999, The George Washington University and thirteen members of the former Mount Vernon College's faculty are pleased to announce today that they have resolved all issues relating to the lawsuit brought by the former faculty members. Under the settlement, the 13 former faculty members will dismiss all claims and collateral proceedings against Mount Vernon College and The George Washington University. The precise details of the settlement are confidential, but all parties stated that it was resolved to their mutual satisfaction.
George Holmes, President of the D.C. Conference of the AAUP and a Professor at Howard University, praised GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, GW and MVC for agreeing to the settlement he views as "equitable and progressive, all in the interests of academic collegiality." He further stated "it is always a sad day when an institution closes and faculty members have to readjust their careers. Nevertheless, I am pleased that Mount Vernon College, with the assistance of George Washington University, was able to address the concerns of these faculty members."
After years of financial distress, the Mount Vernon College Board of Trustees declared a financial exigency in December 1997, terminated all staff and all non-tenured faculty as of June 30, 1998, and terminated all remaining tenured faculty as of June 30, 1999, after providing for the teach-out or transfer of all its remaining students. 11 tenured and 2 non-tenured faculty members filed suit in December 1998 against both Mount Vernon College and The George Washington University, which had provided substantial financial assistance to the College from October 1996 through its closure.
Grae Baxter, President of the remaining Mount Vernon College corporate entity, stated, "We wish to reaffirm that the terminations of the former faculty members who sued the College, and indeed the terminations of all the former College faculty and staff, were solely as a result of the financial exigency that led to the closure of the College. No one was singled out, and the terminations were not in any way based on performance." Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President of the George Washington University, commended the plaintiffs for their many years of service and devotion to women's education.
Monica Heppel, one of the plaintiffs in the case, stated, "While we understand that the Mount Vernon trustees were obliged not to ignore economic realities, we believe that academic principles need be addressed even during periods of financial difficulty, and we were motivated by a staunch commitment to Mount Vernon's mission and to what we perceived as important principles of tenure and self governance." She further stated, "We are all happy that we can put this chapter of our lives behind us and move on to further productive careers in teaching and other endeavors. "
GW has a continuing commitment to the excellence in the education of undergraduate women through its existing Elizabeth Somers Women's Leadership programs at the Mount Vernon campus and through enhancements of these programs in the future. Grae Baxter said, "I would be delighted to meet with former MVC faculty members or any others with an interest in women's education to hear their ideas and suggestions."
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Settlement Letters
LAW OFFICES OF CASHDAN, GOLDEN & KANE, PLLC
1150 CONNECTICUT AVENUE N.W.
SUITE 900
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036-4104
(202) 862-4329
April 26, 2001
George E. Holmes, Ph.D., President
District of Columbia Conference AAUP
Re: Heppel et al. v. Mount Vernon College
Dear Dr. Holmes:
We wish to inform you, through our counsel, that we have resolved all of our complaints and grievances against our former employer, Mount Vernon College, and against The George Washington University, to our mutual satisfaction, and we wish to withdraw and terminate all such complaints and grievances that may have been filed by us or on our behalves with the AAUP and to terminate all formal and informal proceedings relating to such grievances or complaints that may exist or be in contemplation now or in the future with or through any components of the AAUP.
In addition, since we have not been employed by Mount Vernon College since June 30, 1999 at the latest, and since it has had no faculty since that date, we wish to resign as members of the AAUP through that institution, and to dissolve that chapter. We may continue to be individual members of AAUP.
In order to implement and confirm the above actions, we request that you sign and return a letter substantially in the form of the attached draft to the President of Mount Vernon College as soon as possible.
We appreciate all of the AAUP's support throughout our careers and especially in recent years.
Sincerely,
Michael G. Kane
On behalf of Monica Heppel, Rosemary Bolig, James Burford, Maureen Casamayou, Milton
Eisner, Sharon Fechter, Bruce Hill, James Hull, Ann Kennedy, Pat Ortman, Behnaz Quigley,
Gail Rebhan, and Joseph Wnuk
cc: Scott Schreiber, Esq.
Grae Baxter
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
District of Columbia Conference
American Association of University Professors
Representing Seventeen University Chapters of the AAUP in the Nation's Capital
Protecting and Enriching the Citizenry Through a Strong Academe
April 27, 2001
Ms. Grae Baxter, President
Mount Vernon College
2100 Foxhall Road, N. W.
Washington, DC 20007
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President
The George Washington University
2121 Eye Street, N. W.
Washington, DC 20052
Dear Presidents Baxter and Trachtenberg:
I was pleased to receive a letter recently from a group of Mount Vernon College's former faculty members, stating that they had resolved all of their differences with both of your institutions. In light of that letter, I wish to inform you that all formal and informal investigations, proceedings and other actions of any type by the District of Columbia Conference of the American Association of University Professors, and all of its committees, staff and bodies, have been fully and finally terminated.
With respect to a report of Committee A of the District of Columbia Conference that was dated January 9, 2001, and was distributed to some individuals, I wish to clarify that such report was only a draft. As stated in the transmittal letter with that draft, we intended to seek further information on the matters raised in that report from your institutions. As a result of subsequent communications, we have learned that the draft was materially incomplete and inaccurate in some respects, due to prior miscommunications and lack of complete information. That draft will now be abandoned, and not completed or circulated to any individuals or entities. If anyone inquires about that draft, I will inform them of its status as stated in this paragraph.
In addition, with respect to Mount Vernon College, since that entity no longer has any instructional programs or faculty to my knowledge, we have accepted the request of some of its former faculty to dissolve and terminate the Mount Vernon College chapter of AAUP. If any of the former Mount Vernon College chapter members wish to retain their membership with the District of Columbia Conference AAUP, they will be placed in or under the "No Chapter Affiliation" category.
I am glad that your institutions were able to resolve these matters without any formal proceedings of the District of Columbia Conference AAUP and the national AAUP, and that our local District of Columbia Conference AAUP was able to assist in that resolution.
Sincerely, George E. Holmes, Ph.D., President
Cc: David Cashdan, Esq., Attorney for Faculty Action Committee, Mount Vernon College
Michael Kane, Esq., Attorney for Faculty Action Committee, Mount Vernon College
Scott B. Schreiber, Esq., Attorney for George Washington University, Arnold & Porter
Sharon Cohn, Esq., Attorney for George Washington University, Arnold & Porter
William Howard, Esq., Attorney for George Washington University, General Counsel
Dr. Donald Lehman, Vice President for Academic Affairs, George Washington University
Representatives of the Faculty Action Committee, Mount Vernon College: Patricia Ortman, Monica Heppel, Rosemary Bolig, James Burford, Maureen Casamayou, Milton Eisner, Sharon Fechter, Bruce Hill, James Hull, Ann Kennedy, Behnaz Quigley, Gail Rebhan, Joseph Wnuk
Dr. Joan Scott, Chair, National AAUP Committee A on Academic
Freedom and Tenure
Dr. Jane Panek, Chair, National AAUP Committee T on College &
University Government
Dr. Martin Snyder, Associate Staff, National AAUP Committee A
Dr. Robert Kreiser, Associate Staff, National AAUP Committee T
Dr. Jeffrey Butts, Chair, Assembly of State Conferences, AAUP
Dr. Mary Burgan, General Secretary, AAUP
Dennis Blumer, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, George
Washington University
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The lawsuit filed against George Washington University and the GWU-controlled Mount Vernon College is beginning to wend its way through the courts. In a recent decision, Judge Winston of the D.C. Superior Court ruled that there were factual issues that justified a trial against the GWU-controlled Mount Vernon College. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 28, with the trial likely to take place early next year.
During this past year, as a result of a lengthy discovery process and weeks of depositions, abundant evidence supporting the following points was uncovered:
Alumnae of the College have yet to be informed through any official publication of the College that their faculty was terminated. However, fundraising letters go out on a regular basis to the Mount Vernon College alumnae asking them to contribute to the George Washington University at Mount Vernon College. The former MVC faculty and their supporters believe that the callous manner in which faculty, staff, students, and alumnae were and we believe continue to be manipulated and misled is unprecedented, even in this time of increased acquisitions and mergers of colleges and universities.
While most of the former faculty are now employed, none have tenure or even tenure track appointments. Those who continue to teach are in one-year appointments, in community colleges or in public high schools or teaching on a per course basis at several different college and universities. Others have been forced to leave the academy completely.
Despite the length and cost of this legal battle, which have turned out to be even more substantial than originally anticipated, the critical issues remain the same and the former faculty members will continue to press forward. Please help them again through making a contribution to:
Chapter News - 1999: Aftermath of Hostile Takeover
Thirteen faculty members, employed by Mount Vernon College (MVC) until May 30, filed suit against George Washington University (GWU) and MVC The complaints include breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional or tortuous interference with contracts, and age discrimination. The suit was filed in The Superior Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Division on December 16, 1998.
The suit is the end result of what could be characterized as a "hostile" take-over. In 1996, MVC sought GWU's help with financial problems. An affiliation ensued in which, GWU purchased MVC's campus and gained the responsibility to name MVC's board of trustees. In turn, the MVC was allowed to remain as a separate legal entity, with its own faculty, administration, and staff. The affiliation included an agreement to honor MVC's employment contracts affecting approximately 20 tenured and 10 tenured-track faculties.
When MVC President Lucy Ann Geiselman told her community at an assembly in 1996 about the affiliation, the news was greeted with applause. There was a sense that MVC had a future once again and it would continue its tradition of over 120 years of providing women in the District with an independent education.
While MVC was celebrating, a silent coup d'état was being executed. GWU replaced MVC's board with GWU administrators, naming a vice president as chair. Then the trustees appointed a new acting president. Through these maneuvers, only faculty remained guardians of MVC contracts, traditions, core values, and mission - but not for long.
By the end of 1997, a "de facto merger" was accomplished in which GWU assumed MVC's assets, liabilities and control of all academic activities. Six months later in a letter dated June 1, 1998, the new interim president of MVC, Grae Baxter, announced that MVC would "cease all of its academic operations as of the end of 1998-99". Furthermore, all faculties, tenured and non-tenured, received a notice of job termination. Although "bona fide financial exigencies" were cited as justification for these actions, data demonstrating a financial crisis have not been disclosed to the faculty or public.
Through their systematic takeover of MVC, GWU has added a second campus to its crowded Foggy Bottom location: 27-acres in the exclusive area on Foxhall Road This valuable land offers GWU opportunities for athletics and other events.
The college will become GWU at MVC. Within the next three years, GWU forecasts that its campus at MVC will reverse its financial exigency and will generate a profit . This is despite that fact that substantial sums of money have been invested in MVC including the upgrading of physical plant, computer equipment and professors' offices. Most significantly, GWU has hired younger, temporary professors to replace the old, tenured faculty of MVC.
Feeling like Albanians in Kosovo, some faculty at MVC turned to the alliance of professors, the national AAUP, for help. Although sympathetic to their plight, the national office could provide little of substance in this case. Clearly, members of the AAUP must strengthen the organization by developing the necessary "white paper" on mergers to support our colleagues in their time of need.
Left with no other recourse, 13 MVC faculty have filed suit. The plaintiffs are establishing a non-profit corporation to raise
funds to pay for their legal fees. THE ADVOCATE urges its readers to provide generous support to our colleagues in
their time of need.
Chapter News - 1998: Broken Promises
The board of trustees of Mount Vernon College (MVC), all of whom are employees of George Washington University (GWU), have decided to close the College (technically, "cease all academic operations") in May 1999. All MVC faculty members have been given termination notices. Tenured faculty were given contracts through May 1999; non-tenured faculty have been terminated sooner.
The faculty at MVC were told by their administrators that tenure would be preserved in the affiliation agreement with GWU. In October 1996, GWU took possession of MVC's campus and filled the MVC Board of Trustees with its employees. At MVC's 1997 commencement, GWU president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, using Newton's third law of motion as a metaphor, spoke of the equal influence that each institution would have on the other. For several months, a transition committee of faculty members from both institutions worked extensively on incorporating MVC with its faculty into a constituent college at GWU.
The spirit of "equal influence" quickly changed. In December 1997, MVC's Board of Trustees, citing financial reasons, abandoned the transition committee and abruptly decided to close MVC. The campus of MVC will be used for a new GWU program for which new faculty will be hired. MVC's president told the faculty that the GWU faculty insists on filling all faculty positions through a search process and therefore is opposed to absorption of the MVC faculty. Other than announcing positions for which all faculty may apply, GWU has made no effort to find MVC faculty appropriate positions at GWU.
The affiliation negotiations between MVC and GWU did not include members of the faculty of either institution. This was not in conformity with the AAUP Redbook policy statement on mergers and acquisitions. Although not explicitly stated as an AAUP policy, a review of AAUP committee reports strongly suggests that institutions assume the legal and financial obligations of institutions they acquire. When for good reasons, such as lack of an appropriate program at the acquiring institution, some tenure contracts cannot be honored, then at a minimum a serious effort should be made by the acquiring institution to employ as many of the displaced faculty members as is reasonably possible.
An institution as large and diverse as GWU could have found productive employment for MVC faculty members if it had
made such an effort. Therefore, the MVC Chapter of AAUP calls this situation to the attention of the District Conference
and the National Organization.
The Faculty Action Committee
3715 Jocelyn St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20015
Visit Faculty Action Website at: http://www.erols.com/eisner/mvc.htm